Pad for applying pressure to shoe bottoms



Feb. 18, 1936. I s.`J. FINN 2,030,915

PAD FOR APPLYING PRESSURE TO SHOE BOTTOMS Filed May 5l, 1935 Patented Feb. 18, 1936 UNITED STATS PAD FOR APPLYING PRESSURE TO SHOE BOTTOMS Application May 31, 1933, Serial No. 673,651 In Great Britain October 15, 1932 14 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in pads for applying pressure to the bottoms of shoes and is illustrated herein as embodied in pads developed for use in cement attaching soles to shoes.

Most of the machines used for applying cement sole attaching pressure to shoes and soles, as well as some of the machines used for applying pressure for other purposes to shoe bottoms, are provided with uid-lled pads, containing either air or a liquid which, during the pressure applying operation, is under pressure. The pressure may be applied in various Ways, for example by forcing compressed air or liquid under pressure into the pad, by forcing the shoe against a sealed pad containing a definite quantity of iiuid, or by various other methods some at least of which may be regarded as a combination of these two. Some of the machines using uid-lled pads are provided with gages for positioning a shoe and/or a sole on the pad before the pressure is applied, examples of such machines being the cement sole attaching machine disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,897,105, granted February 14, 1933, on an application filed in the name of Milton H. Ballard and the machine disclosed in an application for Letters Patent of the United States Serial No. 636,202, filed October 4, 1932, in the names of Milton I-I. Ballard et al.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved pad adapted for use in machines for applying pressure to shoe bottoms. An important feature of the invention as embodied in the illustrated pads comprises means for limiting the relative movement of the shoe engaging and the opposite walls of the pad. This may take the form of a wall or web, illustrated herein as extending lengthwise of the median portion of the pad, and serving as a tension member to limit bulging of the pad when fluid under pressure is introduced into the pad, or it may take the form of a column underlying the forepart of a shoe operatively positioned on the pad and serving as a compression member, or, if desired, it may serve both as a tension member to prevent bulging of the adjacent portion of the pad and as a compression member.

Pads embodying this invention are useful in machines provided with gage mechanism, such as those mentioned above, in close juxtaposition tothe pad, -in that they permit the uid in the pad to be maintained at all times under a certain amount of pressure without causing the pad to bulge to a serious extent before pressure is applied to the work-piece, thereby obviating interference by the pad with the gage mechanism.

Such a pad, including a column or other compression member under the forepart of the shoe, of less area than the forepart of the smallest shoe to be operated upon, is of additional benefit in a machine of the type in Which a preliminary pressure is applied mechanically to the shoe on the pad and in which the final pressure is applied by introducing additional iiuid into the pad. In such a machine the compression member under the forepart of the shoe serves to take the thrust of the preliminary pressure, which is perhaps 1A, or 1/5 of the total pressure, and to protect the central portion of the forepart of the shoe from the much greater final pressure which is thereby concentrated about the marginal portion of the shoe botton. Since under modern practice the sole attaching cement is limited to a strip extending peripherally of the sole of a shoe, such a pad concentrates the sole attaching pressure where it is really needed.

Another feature of the invention embodied in the illustrated pad comprises a shoe engaging Wall of novel and improved construction. In order to make the shoe engaging wall under the forepart of the shoe relatively hard but at the same time not to interfere with its flexibility, this Wall, which may be, for example, about of an inch thick, is made of rubber reinforced by one or more layers of fabric, the layer or layers of fabric being located close to the outer or shoe engaging surface of the wall and being covered with a layer of rubber not substantially thicker than is necessary to cover and to fill the interstices of the fabric and thereby to provide a smooth sole engaging surface. This prevents the shoe bottom from sinking unduly into the Wall of the pad and is helpful in providing smooth shoe bottoms and in preventing excessive roll of the marginal portion of the sole toward the shoe upper. Since it is usually desired to press the marginal portion of the sole into engagement with the shoe upper at the shank portion of the shoe, the shank portion of the shoe engaging wall of the illus-Y trated pad is provided with a thicker layer of rubber overlying its reinforcing fabric.

With the above and other objects and features in view the invention Will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawing and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of a pad` embodying my invention and adapted for use in the cement sole attaching machine of the abovementioned application Serial No. 636,202, showing the pad mounted in one of the pad boxes of that machine;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the pad of Fig. 1, on a smaller scale and removed from the pad box;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the same pad on the line IIL-III of Fig. 2; Y

Fig. 4 is a plan view of another pad embodying the present invention; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line V-V of Fig. 4.

The liquid-filled pad I6 of Figs. 1, 2, and 3 is illustrated in Fig. 1 as resting on a solid pad or iiller member i2, formed, for example, of rubber, Y

the pad I6 and the ller member I2 being supported in a pad box I4 of the character disclosed in said application Serial No. 636,202. This pad I!) comprises a bag filled with water and having a top shoe engaging wall I6 with a bottom wall I8 opposite the shoe engaging wall, these walls being connected by suitable side and end walls. As illustrated herein the walls of the pad I are formed of a suitable rubber composition, the top, side and end walls being reinforced with a plurality of plies 26 of canvas or other suitable fabric. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the top wall I6 and bottom wall I8 of the pad conform longitudinally approximately to the contour of a last bottom, the pad being of such a construction that it can be bent somewhat about a line coinciding approximately with the forepart of the shank of a shoe in operative position on the pad so as to adjust the pad in accordance with the heel height of the shoe to be operated on.

In using a pad of this type it has often been found desirable to maintain at least a few pounds fluid pressure in the pad at all times, the most desirable amount of pressure when the pad is idle varying somewhat with the type of shoe which is to be operated on. For this reason means may be provided for introducing liquid into and withdrawing liquid from the pad. As illustrated in Fig. 1, this comprises a pipe 22 sealed to the bottom wall IS of the pad as indicated at 24 and provided with a manually or otherwise operable valve 26. In order to prevent the top surface of the pad I from bulging at the forepart and thereby interfering with the proper relation of gage mechanism, such as that disclosed in said application Serial No. 636,202, the pad of Figs. 1, 2, and 3 is provided with an internal tension member consisting of a longitudinally extending median wall 28, illustrated as of rubber reinforced with suitable fabric (Fig. 3) and extending from the forward end of the shank portion of a shoe operatively positioned on the pad IB to the toe end of the pad.

If the pad is to be used in a machine in which preliminary pressure is applied mechanically and the nal operating pressure is thereafter applied by introducing fluid under pressure into the pad, it may be desirable to provide a compression member instead of the relatively thin wall 28. Figs. 4 and illustrate such a pad having a column 30 of rubber or other suitable material in position to underlie the forepart of a shoe operatively positioned on the pad. This column is of material sufficiently firm to serve as a thrust receiving element when the preliminary pressure, which may be as much as l5 or 20 pounds, is applied. When, however, additional uid is forced into the pad to apply the nal pressure, the top wall I6 of the pad bulges somewhat. This relieves or at least does not permit any increase in the pressure applied to the portion of the sole overlying the column 38 and localizes the final pressure around the marginal portion of the sole where the sole attaching cement is located, the column 30 then acting as a tension-resisting member.

In order to provide a relatively firm o-r hard surface to the sole engaging wall I6 at the forepart of the pad, without, however, interfering with its flexibility, the fabricV 2i) with which that wall is reinforced is located close to the shoe engaging surface at that part of the pad, as best illustrated in Figs. 1, 3, and 5, the fabric being covered by only sufficient rubber to fill its interstices and to provide a smooth, continuous sole engaging surface. In the shank portion of the pad, however, the reinforcing fabric, as indicated at 32 in Fig. 1, is positioned well below the surface of the rubber so that the shank portion of the shoe bottom will tend to bed itself into the Wall of the pad thus causing the marginal portion of the sole to be wrapped into close engagement with the upper at the shank of the shoe.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A pad for use in applying pressure to the bottoms of shoes comprising a fluid-filled bag, said bag being provided with means to prevent substantial relative movement of the median portions of the shoe engaging and the opposite walls of the pad toward and from each other.'

2. A pad for use in applying pressure to the bottoms of 'shoes comprising a fluid-filled bag the median portion of which is provided with means for limiting the separation of the shoe engaging and the opposite walls of the pad.

3. A pad for use in applying pressure to the bottoms of shoes comprising a fluid-filled bag the median portion of which is provided with means for substantially preventing separation of the median portion of the shoe engaging and the opposite walls of the pad.

4. A pad for use in applying pressure to the bottoms of shoes having a flexible shoe engaging wall, a wall opposite said shoe engaging wall,

and a compression and tension resisting member between the shoe engaging and the opposite walls of the pad, said member underlying the forepart of the sole of a shoe operatively positioned on the pad and being less in area than the forepart of the sole of the smallest shoe to be...

operated on.

5. A pad for use in applying pressure to the bottoms of shoes comprising a Huid-filled bag, said bag being provided with an linternal wall arranged to prevent substantial relative movement.. of the median portion of the shoe engaging and opposite walls of the pad.

6. A pad for use in applying pressure t0 the bottoms of shoes comprising a fluid-filled bag the shoe engaging and opposite walls of which are connected by an internal wall extending lengthwise of the pad. Y Y

7. A pad for use in applying pressure to the bottoms -of shoes comprising a fluid-filled bag the shoe engaging and opposite walls of which,

are connected toward one end of the pad by an internal wall extending lengthwise of the pad. 8. A pad for use in applying pressure to the bottoms of shoes comprising a fluid-filled bag the shoe engaging and-opposite walls of which are connected beneath the forepart of a shoe operatively positioned on the pad by a substantially median wall extending lengthwise of the pad.

9. A pad for use in applying pressure to the bottoms of shoes comprising a fluid-filled bag the.

shoe engaging and opposite walls of which are connected beneath the forepart of a shoe in operative position on the pad by a substantially median Wall extending lengthwise of the pad.

l0. A pad for use in cement attaching soles to shoes comprising a fluid-lled bag the shoe engaging and opposite walls of Which are connected by a column which is firm enough to sustain a substantial part of the sole attaching pressure.

11. A pad for use in applying pressure to the bottoms of shoes comprising a huid-filled bag the shoe engaging and opposite Walls of Which are connected at the portion of the pad underlying the forepart of a shoe in operative position on the pad by a column the cross section of which is less in area than the forepart of the smallest shoe to be operated on.

12. A pad for use in applying pressure to the bottoms of shoes comprising a iiuid-lled bag having a rubber shoe engaging Wall, and an internal median Wall extending lengthwise of the pad and connecting the shoe engaging and the opposite Walls of the pad, said median Wall being of rubber reinforced with fabric.

13. A pad for use in applying pressure to the bottoms Iof shoes comprising a iiuid-lled. bag having a rubber shoe engaging Wall reinforced with fabric, and a substantially median Wall extending lengthwise of the pad and connecting the shoe engaging and the opposite Walls of the pad, said median Wall also being of rubber reinforced with fabric.

14. A pad for use inapplying pressure tothe bottoms of shoes having a rubber shoe engaging .vall reinforced with one or more layers of fabric the outer surface of which, at the portion of the Wall engaged by the forepart of a shoe operatively positioned thereon, is covered with a layer of rubber not substantially thicker than is necessary to provide a smooth sole engaging surface, the reinforcing fabric at the shank portion of the shoe being covered by a substantially thicker layer of rubber.

SIDNEY J. FINN. 

